Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

This is a matter between the company which won the tender and Dublin City Council. It is not a matter for the Government to award a tender in respect of waste collection. I understand the Minister, Deputy Hogan, will be in the House later today to deal with this matter in a Topical Issue debate and there will be an opportunity for further questions. This matter has arisen from a decision of Dublin City Council to withdraw from the provision of household waste collection services and transfer them to Greyhound. Obviously, the local government audit system has to look at each individual company. Perhaps the Deputy knows something about Greyhound that I do not.

There was an issue for customers, in that they were required to pay €100 in advance to have credit in their accounts before the collection system began. In these times of economic challenge, there are people who cannot raise €100. I would have expected the company would have been flexible and agreed that if a customer wants to pay his or her way, as the vast majority of people do, he or she should be able to have the flexibility to pay €20 or €50 in order that the system can operate.

It may well be the case that the company has moved from providing a smaller to a much larger scale of service and has run into teething problems. I have heard 18,000 people might not have their household waste collected. This is a case where common sense should apply. The city council and company should sit down and decide how to sort it out.

People want to pay their way and if there is a restriction ways of removing it should be considered in order that refuse can be collected in a proper way. The Minister, Deputy Hogan, has been in contact with Dublin City Council. This is a matter between it and the company.

It is a case where common sense should apply. Those two words are often missing in this country, much to our disadvantage, and I hope we can apply them in this case.

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